Washington Editor

LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals Inc. has teamed with Biogen Idec Inc. to develop therapies to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.

The firms will develop products that target CD103, a unique alphaE-beta7 integrin that has been implicated in the activation, homing and retention of lymphocytes that mediate inflammatory diseases affecting mucosal regions of the intestine, skin and lungs.

Under the agreement, Bozeman, Mont.-based LigoCyte is entitled to milestone payments from Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen on the successful development of drug candidates.

"It's a co-development, co-commercialization relationship," Robert Goodwin, LigoCyte's president and chief operating officer, told BioWorld Today. "So it's structured with profit sharing and the ability to co-promote as an opportunity for LigoCyte, which we are very excited about," he said, calling the deal a "true collaboration up through the commercialization of products."

The terms of the agreement forbid the firms from disclosing the amounts or timelines for the milestone payments, Goodwin said.

However, he said, Biogen is "moving aggressively with us to get products to the clinic as soon as possible."

Donald Beeman, chairman and CEO of LigoCyte, said that while his company had several choices of firms interested in partnering the CD103 program, Biogen "really stood out as the best opportunity for us."

Biogen's expertise in the immunology space was attractive for the small Montana firm, Goodwin added.

"They're obviously a really strong immunology company, and they've demonstrated a very good understanding of some of the complexities in getting drugs developed to block certain pathways and limit the overall side effects that sometimes are seen with immunomodulatory drugs," he said. "So just in their experience and their development capabilities, it's really an ideal fit for this program."

Beeman said terms of the deal also prohibit the companies from disclosing the specific target indications for the CD103 program.

But, he said, "There's a variety of indications that may play out, and that's not unusual for monoclonal antibodies. Their application and potential utility exists in a variety of different areas. So I think those will be explored."

CD103, Beeman said, is increasingly being recognized as an important target.

CD103, Goodwin added, "holds a lot of promise to treat certain indications that aren't well served by existing drugs." The Biogen deal, he said, represents LigoCyte's overall corporate strategy to form partnerships for its antibody programs while the firm continues to develop its vaccine programs internally.

The 47-employee company, formed in 1998, has focused its efforts around immunology and virology with an emphasis on the mucosal immunology area, where Beeman said the firm has "some substantial scientific expertise."

LigoCyte is developing a mucosal vaccine for the prevention of norovirus infection in humans, he noted, adding that the vaccine, an intranasally delivered dry powder, is currently in Phase I trials.

LigoCyte's norovirus vaccine is based on a virus-like-particle (VLP) platform, which is void of the genetic material for replication and infection, yet still designed to stimulate a strong immune response.

Over the past few years, Beeman noted, norovirus, which affects 23 million Americans annually, has been an emerging infection that increasingly has plagued cruise ship travelers, children in day-care centers, nursing home residents and hospital health care workers.

"We believe there is a substantial need in the marketplace for a vaccine that can prevent norovirus infection or reduce the symptoms," Beeman said.

LigoCyte also relies on its VLP technology in development of a vaccine to prevent inhalation anthrax, he said.

The company has been working with the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense on that program, Beeman noted, adding that the company has received a total of $43 million in grants from the two agencies over the past 10 years for various projects.

"That's been a substantial strength for the company and one that's allowed LigoCyte to develop the monoclonals to the stages they're at and to pursue these vaccines," he said.

LigoCyte's dual-antigen anthrax vaccine includes two antigen components: a toxin protein antigen and a bacterial capsule antigen conjugated to the toxin protein backbone.

The firm's intranasally delivered, dry-powder anthrax vaccine is designed to induce an immune response at the origin of infection: the respiratory tract.

LigoCyte also is developing a vaccine for the prevention of annual and avian influenza infections and a humanized monoclonal antibody to target CD62 to treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Biogen's stock (NASDAQ:BIIB) gained $2.30 Tuesday to close at $66.80.